Mikel Arteta says criticism of Arsenal is understandable given his side have started the new season with back-to-back defeats, however, he’s hopeful a fully fit squad can turn things around as the season progresses.
Low in confidence after losing 2-0 at Brentford, the Gunners, depleted by injury and illness, struggled to land a punch on Chelsea who, courtesy of first half strikes by Romelu Lukaku and Reece James, ran out easy 2-0 winners at the Emirates.
On an afternoon when fans packed out the Emirates for the first time since March 2020, the terraces did their best to motivate a toothless side but couldn’t resist expressing their discontent at the end of each half.
Asked about his side’s ‘teething problems’, a beleaguered Arteta did his best to strike a positive note despite the fact his players face reigning Premier League champions Manchester City in their next league game.
“We can’t control that,” said Arteta of the injuries and Covid-19 outbreak his squad are dealing with.
“We’ll try to explain what we’re facing when we can, but the expectation is always for this club to win every single match.
“When that doesn’t happen, it’s normal that we’re going to get criticism and they’re going to try to look where they want. That’s it.
“Hopefully things will get better. When players get back, they will need some time because they have lost a lot of football. I think it will be completely different.
“Hopefully we will see a different squad, a different level in the way we can play – and different results. Then the story can change. The good thing in football is that the narrative [can] change really quickly.”
Having spent much of the last few weeks bigging up the importance of playing matches in front of a full stadium, Arteta was asked for his views on the atmosphere at the Emirates.
“I saw a lot of excitement from them at the beginning. They really tried to push the team. When you’re 2-0 down at half-time, nobody is going to be happy. We’d be fooling ourselves [as] a club with this rich history, if anybody is going to be happy at half-time with that.
“I think in the second half, you saw a different reaction – every time the team was giving something, they were reacting positively towards them. The players were saying that they believed that they were really good with them.
“At the end they had to show that it’s frustrating. You don’t want things to be negative at the moment right now but [the circumstances we are facing right now] is really difficult. We need them more than ever, now.”
As things stand, Arteta is unable to call on Gabriel, Thomas Partey and Eddie Nketiah due to injury, while Covid-19 denied him the services of Willian, Alex Runarsson, Alex Lacazette and new boy Ben White. Having missed the season opener, an out-of-sorts Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did return.
“Auba made a real effort to be able to be on the bench today,” said Arteta.
“He only trained one day. He really struggled with illness – he was in bed for a long time but he wanted to be in the squad, he wanted to try to help the team and I thought he did help the team when he came on.”
It remains to be seen whether Arteta will be able to call on Kieran Tierney before the international break. The Scotland left-back suffered a thigh problem and had to go off in the second half. Gabriel Martinelli also couldn’t finish the 90 minutes. Both could be doubts for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup clash with West Bromwich Albion.
“They had to limp off,” said Arteta. “KT had an issue with his quad and Gabi was cramping, He and Bukayo haven’t played 90 minutes for a long time. We’re asking them to do that right now when they’re not fully prepared. They tried really hard, the boys.”
So where do Arsenal go next. How does Arteta approach the next few days?
“We try to give them confidence and belief that football changes really quickly,” he said.
“The league and the table is not going to be decided in August. I don’t want to see anybody feeling sorry for themselves or for the squad or for the team, because that’s not going to help us.
“I want a team and individuals that want to fight and want to face the challenge that is ahead of us, because normally when you do that, at some stage you get rewards. That’s what I’m going to try to do with them.”
It’s a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll
This is the kind of message i can get behind
Sex and drugs and Sausage Rolls
Bring back the 80s
That the truth right there 💯🙌
Hopefully you get sacked soon. He’s even worse than Emery by the way, just for the record- Emery got 5th and the Europa final with a worse group of players than Arteta has at his disposal (Emery has no young players of note, for one). You could actually see what Emery was trying to do (even though it ended in disaster and I was never an Emery fan)- with Arteta, NOBODY has a single clue about what he is about. Tony Pulis football with players that are capable of far better. You can’t even give Arteta the benefit of the… Read more »
I also feel the guys he has surrounded himself with are NOT helping matters. Maybe the board should add someone more experienced who can teach him a few things, since we know they are not sacking him anytime soon.
The guys he surrounds himself are Everton-level (ironically the level we are now at) coaches. Your Steve Round types. Nobody to question him or challenge him. He removes all players that have some sort of personality and drive about them. Just a bunch of yes-men coaches and obedient players like Xhaka that don’t realise how bloody lucky they are that Arsenal is such a poorly run club
What were they really thinking to let even Vic Akers go?
I think you forget just how bad Emery was, particularly in that second season. He lost the plot, lost the dressing room, we had no identity and it was embarrassing. I’ve fully expected us to be bottom of the league after three games since before this season started. It’s a shit run of fixtures. That’s not to say it isn’t really disappointing. If there’s not a big improvement by the end of September I think it’s new manager time. Everything about this club feels toxic right now and if we’re booing the players it’s a dangerous cycle we get into… Read more »
Really? You expected us to lose to Brentford too?
Emery left and won the Europa League again. What else do you need to give him credits? Proficiency in English?
The football we played under Emery and the football we’re playing now are not too dissimilar in my opinion. Our phases of play in possession are generally fairly poor. Ironically I think our ‘start the attack phase’ so when we’re playing out from the back, is probably our strongest. Our remaining two phases ‘create the attack and finish the attack,’ they’re probably our worst, especially the latter. Our refusal to use the centre areas of the pitch is fairly mind boggling. And that refusal to use the central areas in possession boils down to a fear of losing the ball… Read more »
Indeed. It really isn’t too different from the basics Emeryball. Some of our phases of play and our transition into the final third are eerily similar. We’re still predominantly creating our scoring chances from the left and we’re conceding the middle of the pitch entirely. People will point to the fact that we conceded more shots under Emery which is true. Though look at the difference in most frequently used personnel that was protecting the goal under both coaches. Emery – [Kolasinac, Sokratis, Mustafi, AMN] + (Torreira & Guendouzi as DMs) Arteta – [Tierney, Gabriel, Luiz, Bellerin] + (Xhaka &… Read more »
Dude .. Emery still had the Wenger parachute .
and my eyes bled watching that football. Now
however ,,
Ok now i guess my eyes are just soar.But it’s better
just need to improve it more when we add ödegard to mix and some points now.
Well said. It’s a shame that we called Emery clueless then tolerated this kind of BS from Arteta. Everything he said is just excuse.
Not defending him but what can he say? “Go on. Spit on my face?”
He’s telling you the facts. There was a plan but it’s gone to shit thanks to Covid…
He used to say the right things but it just comes across as sort of desperate now.
What would be the right thing for him to say? Just curious…
I quit.
And… that would lead to…? Edu and Vinai magically finding the ‘right’ manager to take us forward before the Man City game?
Noo… Kroenke will sell to the Spotify bloke and Henry becomes the manager with God in the Edu role.
😐
Not that.
I respectfully, completely disagree. He’s just saying how it is really, we have a tough start and a thread bare squad. When we get back most of our starting 11, and can get some football into their legs, we will hopefully improve. I know that isn’t palatable for those who imagine the coach can say something and everything is fixed, but the reality is that it’s a bit shit until its not. And hopefully that happens soon. I don’t really think it’s desperate to say this, since frankly he can’t say anything useful though he still needs to speak to… Read more »
I agree to a point, I just don’t see an actual tactical plan or style of play that we are working towards with Arteta, I really like him and want it to work for him but I can’t see what he is trying to do and he’s been here for a while now.
Wise words, Bob. A match 11 with Ode riffing off Pepe; Partey and Sambi bossing midfield; Gabriel and White (and a touch of Saliba anyone?)… will be way better – still concerns about RB and strike force though.
Having said that – Martinelli left, Pepe right, with a fit Auba and then Saka, ESR, Ode to create… hmmm?
When you’re failing in a high profile job like this there is really nothing you can say paints you in a positive light with the public Pretend to be upbeat, confident and looking forward – and you’re either clueless and deluded, or a slimy conman Be somewhat honest, talk about your doubts and mistakes, and you’re essentially saying “I’m finished here” Defend your players to the hilt (Wenger), and you’re a stubborn old fool enabling your old favourites to become complacent Criticise your players for mistakes, attitude and ability (Mourinho), well not only are you a shit manager but a… Read more »
It’s the hope that Kills you Mikel…
Oh, bugger off Mikel.
I know every team has their challenges but we just don’t have the squad to cope with such big absentees. 4 to 5 starters missing. That’s half a team against title contenders. If by Christmas Arteta can’t make it click once he has a full squad to call on then be angry and call for his head. The amount of fans writing off the season and Arteta in 2 games in ridiculous.
Maybe because it’s not just 2 games, it’s nearly 2 years of seeing games that put fans to sleep?
I’m sorry, in the space that Arteta has been there, Chelsea have sacked Lampard, recovered from midtable to win the Champions League with the same group of players that were hovering around Arsenal in the table in January 2021.
What exactly do you think will happen when Arteta has his “full squad”? He’s had his full squad for enough time for fans to see we’re not going anywhere.
THIS!
I think you’re forgetting he’s a rookie coach and learning on the job too. Yes, we shouldn’t have hired him in the first place. He needed to prove himself before joining a big club like us, however there weren’t many complaints when we won the cup and saw moments of brilliance by him. Now he’s trying to adapt and make us more attacking and there were def signs last season (second half) of this happening. He needs consistency and more patience and this is what the owners will give him, so you can either get on board or stop watching.… Read more »
Fuck off Arteta, coming here to say nice things for yourself will never help. The best thing for you right now is stopping the job then find somewhere to learn everything again.
This right here is the archetype Arsenal fan blokes.
Maybe after another 3 seasons of this type of football and we become firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the league, we will still have people saying he won the FA Cup, you know.
Moments of brilliance? That’s too rare. Even Fat Sam and Pulis have their moments too.
When we had (nearly) full squad from january till the end of season, we were the 3rd best team in the league on points. that’s 24 games. i can’t understand how all of the sudden all the boo-boys absolutely discard that fact and go on with their “arteta is a clown” bullsh*t. we don’t have half of our 10 best outfield players fit and our keeper seems to be one foot out the door. what the hell do you expect against champions of europe who just bought a 100 mil striker?
Cant stand these head in the sand fans…’Its fine, its fine” while we get shitter and further behind. I wish and hope Arteta and players like Xhaxa can turn it around and suddenly become whatever it is there blinders see in them but from the evidence available thats incredibly unlikely. But im the crazy one for not having faith in a green manager and a player whose best performance for us was barely decent.
No one is saying it is fine; some people are putting these poor performances in perspective. The season runs until May, and we’re in August, and we actually, for once, did very good business this summer at least in terms of incomings. Arteta has mountains of work to do, but he actually was the third best manager in the league last year over a 4.5-month stretch. There is promise there, and in the squad, but more patience is needed, ideally, to realize it.
Your not crazy for not having faith in MA; he’s got a lot to prove this season.
Exactly. No one expects the angry folks to endorse Mikel and sing his name. If Mikel has to go, he will – when the club decides they can find someone better than him. I don’t know what they expect by trying to convince the world that the team is shit – it is, everyone knows!
I expect these nutters to sponsor a plane next week by the looks of it.
This constant drama will alienate the players too.
If you want Arsenal to be run ruthlessly like Chelsea, you are prolly supporting the wrong club mate.
That is a hell of a turnaround your hoping for when there is no evidence to suggest this manager and team are capable of it. Hopefully they prove me wrong and Arteta suddenly becomes the new Wenger/pep and Xhaxa suddenly becomes this great midfielder that alot on here seem to see.
It was MA who used the word “hopefully” in his interview and that worried me – it implies that he has lost the confidence. Hopefully is such a negative word.
It will be interesting to see how this all looks on Amazon.
If I hear that ‘Second Half of Last Season’ stat just once more……
Why? It’s the most recent ‘bulk’ run of matches that we have as any sort of reference. Less relevant to hark back to the first half of last season. And foolish to doom us after 2 (or 3, with Citeh looming) matches this season. My view: we wanted money spent – check; we wanted money spent smarter – check; we wanted young talent, rather than pensioners out grazing on fat salaries – check. Give Ode, Sambi, Partey, White, Tavares (and ideally, another striker) 2-3 months to bed down and if there’s no improvement in results, tactics, shape and style by… Read more »
These arbitrary timeframes are getting a bit pedantic now.
Steve Bruce (55%) had a higher win percentage than Brendan Rodgers (33%) in the final two months of last season. Ask the Newcastle fans which manager they would rather have at their club to prevent relegation.
I bet Newcastle were happier with Bruce than Rodgers in the final two months of last season!! 😉
😁😁😁
Arteta’s entourage is shifting the goalposts already. Wait until all his players are fit before judging, they say.
How long has it been that we ever have a fully fit first 11 for a sustained period?
On paper, a loss to Chelsea is not a surprise. A loss to Brentford is.
But it is not just these 2 games. It’s 2 seasons now.
You neatly omit… ‘and spend over 400m quid’.
Apples with apples, mate – please?
He won’t get until Christmas, mate.
Fans are back in the stadium, and their feelings will be made clear the longer this shit-show drags on.
Fair enough, but even if we have everyone available, which game in Arteta’s time here, would you refer to and say; thats Arteta’s style, that’s what he’s building up to and when things are in place, that’s what we’ll play like? I just don’t get the process, what is he trying? I just can’t see what’s his trying, there is no defined style
There was/is a style and so far it hasn’t borne results. Hence the powers that be are investing in the team to give him more to build with – so he can adapt. It’s stupid to do all these squad changes while talking with Mikel and then fire him after three games. Isn’t it?
I agree. He should never have been allowed to make the signings.
The style is – get it to KT for a cut back which the defenders cut out. Without variety and players making runs in behind or taking shots early, we are so easy to defend against.
By Christmas?! By Christmas we’ll have lost so much ground on other teams that we won’t even make the top half of the league! This is nothing new, two consecutive 8th places tells you that.
I think it was a pretty good performance considering the amount of players we had missing. When I saw Ben White not in the team, I was expecting lot worse from Marie-Holding partnership. I can actually live with this 2-0 defeat based on the performance. We are not gonna face Chelsea who has the luxury to bring on Kante, Wener and Zyech as sub every week (and Pulisic was not even in the team). All the critics slagging of Arsenal can eat shit. They forget it was our second choice CBs against a 100 mill pound forward. What did they… Read more »
ANM would have offered more than Xhaka today. Chambers is a center back play him there alongside holding. Under Emery that pairing gave us results. Arteta has tools but he is either too rigid and set in his ways or totally ignorant. Either way Arsenal needs to move away from him.
If he had not frozen Torriera and Giendozi won’t they offer more? What will Ben White give you that Saliba will not?
Unless we played a back 3 (which we could easily have done without White) to protect White, White would have been targeted and steamrolled by Lukaku in a back 2.
our defence got beasted by lukaku but we were decent going forward. we have a young squad with a lot of change still happening and a coach who is learning on the job. i too expected nothing from the game today. i think it would be great if fans in the stadium could put their frustrations aside for at least the first few weeks of the season and get behind the team. i can’t imagine it helps at all to be facing that kind of reaction in the first home game with fans back in the stadium. sadly it seems… Read more »
I’m afraid MA is operating like a Fantasy Football manager and just trying the obscure team selection in the hope of it making a difference. That can work on occasion (AMN in Cup Final say) but becomes more desperate as time goes on. We are not Citeh/Barca light even at present.
What did you see from Ben white last week to make you think he would have done any better?
Every sincere Arsenal fan knew getting something from Chelsea and City – two teams that are miles ahead of Arsenal in quality and development – was always going to be a tough ask. But losing to Brentford – and lamely so – was almost unforgiveable.
Things can only get better if you guide the team to beat the teams they should beat, and hold their own against the big teams.
except the arsenal team vs brentford was a load of kids and the xG tells you the score should’ve been more like 1-1 anyway. So brentford actually got lucky in that game.
But we’ve been lauding the fact that we’ve bought and brought in players in the 21-25 group – our team is bound to be young.
Interesting to see Tammy Abraham set up 2 goals and Mikhytarian score for Roma yesterday.
What has xG got to do with the actual result of a game?
How can a game that one team has not kicked a ball across the goal line ever end 1 – 1?
So, on the xG league table, Arsenal a point and a goal, at least.
Great.
I think when we beat spuds on 26 sept, we will be progressing again.
For me, for now, Arteta stays.
I like Arteta but why do you think he should stay? I see NO progress. Selling Martinez cheap and buying Ramsdale high….one of many crazy moves by him smh.
There is little you can do about a player who wants to move.
Martinez wanted a guarantee he’d be Number one keeper at the club.
Only a foolish manager would do that.
Arteta did not put him in the market; he asked to be sold.
Curious as to why every disgruntled fan has to start their complaint with the disclaimer: “I like Arteta but…” What is there to like?
Hope is not a plan. Mafacker go out and buy better players. That’s the only way you can win in today’s game. Anything other than that is BS.
Are you the president of a country by any chance?
President of Mafackerdagaskar. 😉
I think Wednesday game becomes really important, need to play a fully competitive 1st 11 to build some confidence
Man City is Saturday lunchtime so I can see a mix and match team for the League Cup.
Something like Ramsdale; Cedric, Chambers, Mari, Tavares; Xhaka, Elneny; Maitland-Niles, Odegaard, Nelson; Balogun.
Aubameyang, Saka, Pepe, ESR all on the bench. Arteta will not want to lose this.
no lokonga?
Nah, he’ll start against City so needs a rest I’d say, otherwise that’s 3 games in 7 days for him which is quite heavy for a 21 year old.
“Play the youths,” they said.
“we will support them,” the rest echoed.
Hopefully? That is what we are working with? Hopefully?
Hopefully? Are you serious? I tell you what will help, making Xhaka captain.
Out of all the decisions making Xhaka captain is the one that has me baffled. Even if half the supporters agree Arteta disenfranchises the other half. It’s as mad as the seven captains of Emery when he couldn’t find one leader or upset the other so called leaders. Football must be one of the only professions where the workers hold more power and are better paid than the management and where not doing your job gets another man sacked.
Xhaka is a better captain than Auba you know it.
Absolutely not the point. KT should be the captain. If he insists on this ‘project’ of building for the future which is seeing is fall further and further behind, then pick a young captain, who’s a fan favourite because of his passion and quality.
Have we had a shot target over the last 2 games?
Sorry i missed the game genuine question
Yes we have.
Arsenal – 4 S.O.T | Brentford – 3 S.O.T
Arsenal – 3 S.O.T | Chelsea – 5 S.O.T
“Hopefully” doesn’t sound like a plan
He lost me at “hopefully”…
I want Arteta to succeed I really do. However, this really is quite, quite shit now. I just can’t remember the last time I was genuinely excited for a rumble with the likes of Chelsea, Utd, Liverpool etc, as the Arsenal of yesterday were more than capable of turning up and turning it on. Those days were sambucas and out till 6am and these days it’s Horlicks and bed by 9. It’s an all too familiar fuck fest and familiarity breeds contempt. Not sure what happens next, I’ll be behind the boys & Arteta of course but I’m just desensitised… Read more »
Didn’t we beat Chelsea in our three previous meetings (not counting the friendly) and United at Old Trafford last season?
and for whatever reason there not memorable.
I remember them! 😉
Brilliant and perfectly summarised
I guess you forgot about those late Wenger era games when we would b down 3-0 inside 20 mins with players ready to go home and rather be anywhere else than on the pitch? Or those 5-0 hiding? I am an Wenger fan more than I am an Arteta fan but those matches were so hard to watch! Or Emery’s clueless team towards the end of his tenure? Arteta cleaned the house and changed the attitude and the work rate. And that I can live with. He has players like Pepe doing his defensive duties. As long as he has… Read more »
To be fair that’s when Wenger was directly hampered with financial constraints. and you know what i remember alot of those hidings and we usually were the better team at keasst threatening the goal with purposeful shots and crosses. Then someone like Drogba would just come alive 3 or 4 times and it was over.
you must have a v short memory if you can’t remember last season
With Partey, Odegaard, White, and Lokonga added to Saka, ESR, Tierney, Pepe, Auba, Gabriel, Martinelli, Laca, and Xhaka, plus Ramsdale to push Leno, and Tavares, Mari, Holding, etc as back ups, we have the makings of a solid but very young team. But we literally haven’t had half those players on the field yet, let alone together, and getting so many new and young players to gel is going to take time no matter who the manager is. Certainly Arteta has not convinced yet, but the team had a good 2nd half last season, and it makes no sense to dump… Read more »
I think this is the most sensible assessment I’ve seen so far.
Hope springs eternal. But I can’t go along with this idea that returning players will magically improve us, given what we’ve already seen from most of them last season playing in this same system. Some will point to our post Xmas form last term, but bar a brief period we didn’t play that well in the main. In fact, we often played much like we did today but with a bit more luck. It was a bit like Emery’s unbeaten run, scraping results but not in a way that could be sustained over a season.
Is it not fathomable that we can find the results that we achieved in the second half of last season, and improve our attacking play/goals in the process? Might that be one of the progressive steps of the fabled process? Why write us off at 2 games, 9 days into the new season? I don’t think there’s anything magical or fanciful about the idea that Gabriel, White, Partey, Odegaard, Lacazette, and a fit Aubameyang will drastically improve this team. Transfer fees are meaningless on the pitch, but that’s about 250 million pounds worth of the Arsenal that we couldn’t utilize… Read more »
Imo I think you’ve got it backwards; typically, good results are born of good performances not the other way around. Results are probabilistic and will return to a mean determined by how well a team is playing. Now I’m not personally writing Arteta off, but the people that are writing him off aren’t doing it on the back of 2 games, they’re doing it off the back of 21 months in which we’ve made little progress. I haven’t really seen us do anything we were not capable of under Emery. My only hope is that he reevaluates what he wants… Read more »
Well, I guess you can’t fathom it — fair enough. I do think the list of absentees contains some of our best players, and do think they make a difference on the pitch. I also think we need to give White a little more time to find his footing with us; he’s been written off after one game, and the rest of the team and manager after two games.
And trust me, Lukaku is going to terrorize VVD and Konate next weekend, and plenty of CB’s this season — he is in his prime and apparently in the mood.
I suppose we’ll see what those players can do, but I’m tired of excuses, so are most fans I think, even blogs. None of those absentees explain the paucity of these performances imo, especially when you dissect the way we played last season. Agree White needs more time, there’s certainly a good player there. But spending £50m on him when he’s only played in a back 3 alongside more physically dominant CBs, and while we have a 6″4, £30m CB tearing up Ligue 1 on loan, points to a lack of joined up thinking. The kind of thinking that has… Read more »
I’m sure MA and the players are tired of the excuses as well. Our performances will improve, and the goals will come. White is 23 – he’s very young for a centre back. He’ll be worth the money. As to your last point, he probably would not have prevented either goal but he might have progressed the ball for us better, which might have changed the dynamic of our attack — we still have to see how that goes when he’s fit. Imagine if Saliba had been owned by Lukaku yesterday the way Mari was? The PL is fast and… Read more »
i expected chelsea to win. i expected them to score. but its the errant passing, and failure to make tactical changes (like covering the wingback that’s reeking havoc) that bugs me. executing a coherant game plan and still losing to a title challenger is acceptable right now. the shambles on display is not.
BBC: ‘Arsenal had never opened a league campaign with two defeats and no goals in their previous 117 seasons of existence – until now.’ Plus the woeful pre-season ‘friendlies’. If anyone really thinks this poorly cobbled-together team of average Joes that no other teams wanted (- the club didn’t even want our captain – and worse still, nor did anyone else -) will get above 8th place, they need their head examined. Our spending has been desperate – £50 million for Ben White – £50 million! – who got muscled off the ball every time in his first appearance. I… Read more »
We seem to be breaking undesirable records like this year after year at the moment.
👍👍👍
Wenger in?
😁
YES!
It’s always comforting when the best the manager can offer is “hopefully”. Imagine asking a dr if you’re gonna survive an operation and he says “hopefully”. Really feel for him though, but when you spend 130 million on 3 backups and Ben fucking White I lose some sympathy.
Since 2006 we have perpetually been told the The Team Is In Transition.
Fifteen years in transition – we deserve better, especially with the prices we pay.
Arteta out. Not coz he is a bad coach but there is something terribly wrong with the culture of the club. Otherwise how come none of our signings succeed? Xhaka, Mustafi, Pepe, Laca, Torreira, Leno, Partey..
We need a really strong minded coach like Conte or Simeone to change the mentality of this club.
only Partey out of those was his signing and if he wasn’t injured all the time he’d be very good.
Arsenal playing the CL winners without their 1st choice CB pair, their first choice CM, and their 1st choice ST and yet there seems to be very little allowance for that in the comments. Add in the fact Martinelli and Saka probably aren’t fit yet but still let’s sack Arteta and destroy half the players? Arsenal’s 4th choice CB can’t man-mark one of the best ST on the planet out of the game?!? SHOCK HORROR. Lukaku looks hungry and in the shape of his life, he will bully a lot more CBs this season than Mari. Let’s see how this… Read more »
Well said. Holding & Mari wouldn’t get into any current top 6 squad atm. Lokonga was our best player, who Arteta just bought in for a bargain price.
It’s gonna take time……no manager could’ve won that game against Chelsea yesterday with those players. I was pleased to see a bit of fight and aggression in the second half. Season starts after the international break for us……
ok cool so what’s our excuse for losing 2-0 to Brentford then? We saying our backups are that bad that we only rely on first choices to beat even some of the worst teams in the league? Isn’t that on the manager too?
Not saying there is an excuse but to ignore the fact that there are mitigating circumstances to Arsenal’s session doesn’t make sense to me. If you are telling me that losing 4 players before kick off and then the players having to all travel to the game separately doesn’t impact the team then you have never played a team sport. Add to that Brentford playing at home for the first time in the Prem with fans it was always going to be a difficult game. We were poor in that game and I am not 100% Arteta in but I… Read more »
I don’t know which club in the world will always have a fully fit team whilst COVID is still an issue.
We’ve played a 95% fit team against Villareal in the Europa League. We still crashed out and our only goal scored was a penalty.
It’s become quite clear, this team’s lack of threat is not a personnel issue.
Willian liking a Twitter post on the result.. This is getting humiliating and super clueless fast. Who’s driving the bus?? Who oversees such level of incompetence on all levels?? Why is he an Arsenal player in the first place?? I am with Frimpong, Arteta must be shown the door before he makes more damage.
What else did you expect from that fat Chelsea cunt?
If Arteta is stupid enough to play that cretin ever again, I hope he gets dog’s abuse.
This, henceforth, is now on the board. With every passing game, they are neglecting the club. The man is out of his depth, his system doesn’t work and will never work, regardless of the players we bring in or shift on. Conte is a vastly experienced manager and currently out of work. We’ve been here before; Klopp should have been brought in to replace Wenger years ago when Arsene started trying to do it all by himself. We let that boat sail – and Liverpool haven’t done too bad, have they? Don’t sit around again Arsenal. Don’t come out with… Read more »
This loss was obvious , given the state of our team and the quality of the opposition. We can’t blame the Kroenke’s , we’ve spend big time this season. What worry me is this: I support the youth line of Arteta, but youth doesn’t need always to be lightweight? Arteta is building a La Liga team of relatively small,nimble players there the quality with the ball is superior to all other qualities by large. Even our strongmen, the CB’s are bullied by Brentford and eaten alive by Lukaku. In front, we dont have physically precence anymore like Giroud, we replace… Read more »
Definitely need some steel…….Bissouma + Partey would look like a great midfield with Sambi & Xhaka as back up.
I’m giving Arteta time but would much rather have Saliba here now that Holding or Mari.
“but the expectation is always for this club to win every single match.” That was, but a point or a win sometimes will do it nowadays.
So much blame to go around, no sense pointing a finger. Top four is a pipe dream as we are still south of Brentford. Without help we will struggle to score more goals than we will concede. Hope I’m wrong because I can’t read Arteta’s excuses all year.
My guess is that Arteta has until the Spurs game to put things right. I really wanted it to work out for him but he doesn’t really seem to be learning from where it has gone wrong and we don’t appear to have any plan. It’s frustrating to watch and disturbing that some of the younger players look lost now.
There is a very strong argument to be made that he has not improved a single player in his 18 months. More worryingly, he has actually made a lot of them worse. For years we assessed what came to be known as the “‘Wenger damage ” (which let’s be honest, was more due to lack of backing from the owners.) But the damage Arteta is causing is a lot worse. He is making us look extremely comfortable in mediocrity. Worse, mediocrity will soon look like a luxury given the direction this guy is taking us in. It is not hyperbole… Read more »
This guy ain’t it. Look at Tuchel on the touchline; calm, composed and confident. You don’t see him on the touchline panicking like our manager does. He does his research and trusts his players to execute the game plan. Heck, Tuchel could probably slip out the stadium, go play a few rounds of golf, have a meal and his Chelsea would still win like nothing happened. That’s what’s called good preparation and trust. Now let’s look at Arteta for comparison… He is all manic hand gestures, breathless barking and more pacing than a prisoner on death row. But to what… Read more »
I’m sure any manager can sit on the sidelines looking cool and confident when his financially doped collection of the most expensive players is matched by another collection on the bench, and he’s just bought the most expensive battering ram in world football. Stop being so fucking stupid.
That’s a bit rich coming from you.
Tuchel was pretty much the same at Dortmund, who are definitely not a financially doped club. Always calm and mostly silent.
@Flavoured Rice is spot on.
The first game of the season is against Norwich. If we can’t get a good run after the Norwich game, then it’s time to go. Let’s get the facts straight. We are in a transition phase. We started to play against a side that hasn’t been in the top flight on 74 years, and fans are back at the stadium for the first time in a year and a half. The benefit of being at home is massive. We then play against the champions of Europe, who has strengthened even more with a beast at top who makes the team… Read more »
Yep, fair enough 👍
The first game of the season was held last week. That’s when points start to count.
You can’t cherry pick your first game of the season to be what you think you can win.
Man we are tired of your silly excuses.Your is playing with out organisation or structure. We are always open when we lost possession,our defense as no protection what so ever. Nobody was sitting at the base of the midfield to break up the play and cut all balls to Lukaku. Man sometimes I wonder what tha hell have we been doing in preseason and in training? Mikel were is that Arsenal team when u were appointed that was so difficult to break? That team that was very compact we they lost the ball? That team that was so aggressive in… Read more »
Hopefully we sign a proven manager – Antonio Conte?
Arsenal is in Top 5 when considering money spent on transfers in the last 5 years (€-357.30M) and in second place for the last 3 years (€-290.20M).
In the meantime Lille balance for the last 3 years is positive (€153.11m) and last year they won the title in Ligue 1, beating PSG.
We should employ Lille former Football Director (Luis Campos) and maybe their title winning manager (Christophe Galtier), stop wasting money with an unproved team (Edu & Arteta)
I’m backing Arteta to come good.
Bad start ? Sure. Players out, did not help.
But the second half performance was a big upgrade from the first.
The players he’s brought in, have real quality.
if you’ve ever done some project management, you’ll understand he’s doing the right thing.
End October this team is going to be in the top 6.
I’m not being blindly optimistic, I can see what he’s trying to achieve.
I think 90% of the fans WANT to trust Arteta but there’s no signs on the pitch that we can cling on to with no tangible improvement (with a full squad or not)
Hats off the fans who got behind the team for the full 90 mins. They deserved a far better performance but still cheered them on and had every right (at full time) to boo what they’d seen. No one knows if Arteta and this squad is the best thing for us but all we can do is get behind the transition/work in progress.
Can the downvoter(s) elaborate? I don’t see any benefit from us booing our own players/performance at the stadium as what positives will that bring in the game?
Missing a whole chunk of players through Covid and illness, many of them first-teamers, Auba on the bench not fully recovered and it was one of hardest matches we will play this season. By all means, be angry about the Brentford loss but losing to Chelsea in the current situation, hardly a surprise with so many missing players! People need to let the new player’s bed in and the missing players come back. We were given a very hard start to the season, get that out the way and see where we are at the end of Sept. We need… Read more »
Hopefully don’t cut it Mikel. Sort your shit out or move on.
Zero points after 3 games is what I expected at the start. I accepted that already, so I m trying not to moan about anything or respond to the usual trolls. While I m not happy and not Arteta in, hes here, probably till December at the least and likely all season if results and play progress. They wouldnt sack him if he asked, they are not reactive at the top, which is good, but also indecisive amd doing fuck all which is bad. I m happy the fans in the stadium backed the team, I just hope they still… Read more »
Blogs used the dreaded phrase ” how far we have fallen.”
“How far we have fallen” is the laziest thing I hear from Arsenal fans at the moment. In the premier league, era Arsenal has achieved 90 points once and over 80 points 3 times. To win the league in the modern-day era you need well over 90 if not 100 points. Arsenal has never really been capable of doing this. So let’s stop saying “how far we have fallen” as we haven’t fallen anywhere, we’re standing still. The question is, how do we start moving forward?
The fact that Arsenal FC deemed Mari a better centre half option than Saliba, Mavropanos and Sokratis is symptomatic of all that is wrong and broken with our football club. I remember when he first signed many were optimistic about him but my god alarm bells were ringing when I first saw him in an Arsenal shirt. Seriously people how can we trust these guys to do what is right when they deemed Mari as a good centre half option in the EPL. This decision in itself is symptomatic of all that is wrong with AFC.
Seems arteta plays him because he’s left footed, gabriel has to stay fit all season or we will see plenty more of him.
Arteta Will scar these young players for life if they don’t get support soon. He is, without doubt, worse than Emery
where is the accountability from Arteta? it’s always bad luck, bad luck and bad luck!!!
Give him city starting 11 who ran rout last week and he would still lose to Brentford. There is no clear defined style of play. I wonder if I can’t see a theme or style, our players could be confucked as hell. A manager by definition is supposed to manage staff to the best of its capabilities to extract productivity and achieve results, I am sorry but I don’t think Arteta has done that and I hope if I can see this shit ain’t working, hopefully arsenal hierarchy does too. Against Chelsea I agree they have quality players but we… Read more »
Players with injuries. Players with Covid. Players who will need time to get back to match fitness. An international break, where players can get injured again. And then the African players, several of whom are among our best, will head off. Come back injured. Or with Covid.